Life Style Education: Are We Prepared for Changes?

The public should be aware of the sudden change of life style of some people that makes their life completely different from their previous ones. All of us must be ready to face any circumstances from this manifestation in the future.  The rich, wealthy and famous should be made aware that that type of life style is not wrong, but they should also be taught how to follow a normal way of life. Proper guidance and counselling on how to live normally needs to be provided with especially designed lectures and classes. Bringing these “students” to remote villages where the poor and the disadvantaged live may help them to understand the hardships of life around them. Having a short intern period within such a community will help them further understand the real life of the majority in their country. Furthermore, if they are always taught in an environment of luxury and are never faced with a normal education system and style of life, a major problem arises: if, in the future, our country is led by such graduates, who never went through our normal education system or lived a normal style of life, how can they understand and lead the majority in our country? This paper discusses this phenomenon

Non-Native English Teachers and Varieties of English: Ready, or Not?

Language is dynamic. And thus, for English as an international language, it keeps on changing and developing over time. Now there are more non-native English speakers compared to native speakers around the world. Thus, intelligibility becomes fundamental in the world of Englishes. Besides teaching in the English accent (i.e. American or British English) as part of the educational policy given by schools, respectively, non-native English teachers must also be prepared to inform their non-native students of the Englishes around the world. Moreover, research in identifying the varieties of English spoken in different areas around the world are rapidly progressing. Especially in the field of acoustic phonetics, in which the studies here assist researchers and teachers to identify vowel distinctions among different group of English speakers and the extent of the first language (L1) influence. Specifically, the analysis in phonological variations can help teachers deal with variation in varieties of English. Understanding the varieties of English that exist today and having mutual intelligibility can improve communication with different people from different countries around the world

Multicultural Awareness and Practices among Malaysian Primary School Teachers

This study was designed and aimed at identifying the awareness and practices of multicultural awareness among primary school teachers in Malaysia. It attempts to identify their awareness of multicultural concept when dealing with their students and staffs at their school. This awareness was measured by three variables: awareness, knowledge and skills. A number of 41 questions which inquired about the three variables were distributed randomly to 50 primary school teachers in Malaysia. These teachers were from three ethic types of primary schools: Tamil, Chinese and Malay primary schools. The reason for choosing the three different mainstream schools was because they represented the main different multicultural practices in the country. From these participants, five teachers were selected for further interviews to obtain richer data. The findings revealed that the awareness of multicultural education among primary school teachers was still at the medium level. Thus, this study suggests that there should be a multicultural awareness campaign at all schools in Malaysia in order to ensure that each student, no matter from what backgrounds they are from, feel they are part of the Malaysian society as a whole. The study also found that the awareness should start from the home, environment and peer and through parental guidance because school is a bridge between home and the society that will form one Malaysian society to achieve vision 2020

The dehumanizing metaphors in the culture of Acehnese in Indonesia

This study investigated dehumanizing metaphors used in the daily life and collective memory of Acehnese people in Indonesia and how male and female persons are presented. The interviews were held with 20 people from six districts in Aceh province, Indonesia. Data were collected from elders aged 60 and above, and Acehnese is spoken as their mother tongue. Since they did not travel much (except for occasional holidays with families and Hajj pilgrimage), they are deemed untainted native speakers of Acehnese. For analysis, grounded by the Conceptual Metaphor Theory, this study found that the metaphorical expressions in the Acehnese culture that dehumanize people mostly use animals' concepts, and the rests are of the inanimate entity, and plants. The negative meanings present human as animals are such as agam buya (crocodile man), kamèng keudèe (goat in the market), manok agam (cock), among others, and the positive ones that present human as plants are boh lam ôn (a leaf-covered fruit) and padé jum (wet rice). They negatively or positively describe a person's behavior where the negative ones are commonly associated with a person's corrupt behavior and the positive ones for good behavior. Most of the dehumanizing metaphors are genderless; only a few are gender-based. Acehnese is a genderless language that has no distinctions of grammatical gender. These metaphors inform the conceptual system or belief of the Acehnese society through language use

THROUGH THE METAPHORICAL LENS: UNDERSTANDING OTHERING OF LANGUAGE LECTURERS IN INDONESIAN HIGHER EDUCATION

This research attempted to delve into the Indonesian and English lecturers’ views on othering experiences through the metaphorical lens. The data collection employed interviews with ten lecturers teaching at two public universities in Aceh, Indonesia. The interviews were recorded and transcribed, and further analyzed using Johnson and Lakoff’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) where a metaphor is referred to understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another thing. The results revealed that the lecturers expressed their feelings of being othered through 14 Acehnese metaphorical expressions. They are ‘awak dalam’, ‘awak droe’ ‘asoe lhôk’, ‘Cina saboh geudông’, and ‘ureung lhap darah’,‘kön ureung gulam budée’, ‘kön awak dalam’, ‘kön awak droe jih’, ‘kön syara Ma jih’, ‘gob mat aweuk’, ‘ureung di luwa pageu’, ‘jamok di luwa keuleumbu’, ‘awak gop’, and ‘awak blah déh laôt’. Those in power (i.e., the ‘us’) discriminated against some lecturers (i.e., the ‘them’) by not providing them equal opportunities in the institution, regardless of their quality and credentials. Othering that existed in the universities negatively affected their work enthusiasm, education quality, social justice, and equality. Consequently, othering must be eradicated so that the human resources recruitment and education in universities uphold the principles of transparency, equality, and accountability

Skimming and Scanning Techniques to Assist EFL Students in Understanding English Reading Texts

This research aimed to find out whether the skimming and scanning techniques (SST) can improve EFL students’ English reading comprehension in recount texts, especially on identifying the main ideas and detail information, in a senior high school in Meulaboh, Aceh, Indonesia. A number of 32 eleventh grade students participated in this study, and the one group pre-test and post-test design were used. Data collection was from a pre-test and a post-test. In analyzing the data, statistics was used. The results showed that the mean score of the pre-test was 45 and the post-test was 65, with 20 points of improvement. Furthermore, the result of t-test was 4.7, while the critical value of 0.05 significant level was 2.4, with the degree of freedom at 23. Since t-test>t-score, thus SST improved the students’ reading comprehension in this study. Nevertheless, the paper further discusses some setbacks while implementing SST in the classroom

An instructional systems design model for selecting and developing authentic English materials for Syiah Kuala University pre-departure scholars

The purpose of this study was to apply instructional system theory to the process of developing authentic English as a foreign language (ESL) materials for Indonesian pre-departure scholars. The researcher established a theoretical framework for the process through an intensive review of instructional system literature and selected an applied process model for adaptation to developing authentic ESL materials. The Stiehl-Schmall ISD model was adapted and later validated using a modified Delphi process. Seventeen panelists, randomly selected from the area of instructional systems design, ESL, and Indonesian EFL practitioners, were involved in the validation process. Feedback from panelists was analyzed and it was determined that the model was applicable for Indonesian intensive English programs. It was also found that the model, as adapted, was considered practical and useful by EFL practitioners, though many of them were not knowledgeable in instructional systems design. Indonesian EFL practitioners expected the development of the model to substantially improve the quality, effectiveness, efficiency, and relevancy of authentic English used in Indonesian intensive English programs

A qualitative study of teacher talk in an EFL classroom interaction in Aceh Tengah, Indonesia

Teacher talk plays an essential role in classroom interaction since it can facilitate students to enhance their levels of comprehension toward the learning materials and further encourage them to be more active during the learning process. This qualitative study is aimed to analyze the types of talk employed by the teacher in the classroom interaction based on the framework of Flanders Interaction Analysis Category System (FIACS) promoted by Flanders (1970). The data were collected through audio recording and observation for three class meetings, and interview with the teacher at the second grade of a senior high school in Aceh Tengah, Indonesia. The results showed that all of the seven types of teacher talk were found. Among them, giving directions took place as the most applied interaction by the teacher. It indicates that the teacher mostly controlled and provided the students with directions, commands, or orders in the learning process. Meanwhile, the least used were accepting or using ideas of pupils and accepting feelings. From the result of the interview, this matter occurred due to the lack of students’ participation in expressing their ideas and feelings. Thus, this study is expected to be a reference by which teachers could consider the types of teacher talk to be implemented to improve their students’ activity and interest during the classroom interaction

EXPLORING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION TOWARD THE USE OF DUOLINGO IN LEARNING ENGLISH

Purpose of the study: This study was aimed at investigating the students’ attitudes and perception toward the use of Duolingo in Learning English Methodology: A mixed-method design (quantitative-qualitative) was employed in this study. 60 undergraduate students of Syiah Kuala University participated in this study. They were chosen by using purposive sampling techniques. In obtaining the data, questionnaires and interviews were implemented in this study. In the question area, there were 16 close-ended questions adapted from Yang (2012a) and Garcia Botero and Questier (2016) designed using the Likert scale method. Besides, 3 interview questions were asked to 10 chosen students to deeply reveal their perception in using the Duolingo. Main Findings: The result indicated that most students have a positive perception of the use of Duolingo in learning English (Mean=4.0). This study has found that students view Duolingo as a useful and helpful application and a motivational tool in learning English. One of the more significant findings to emerge from this study is the inconsistency between the students’ perception and their acts in using the application. Their positive view on the use of Duolingo was contrary to the fact that they are lacking time in using the application. Applications of this study: This study is intended to shed some lights on how the students perceive their experiences in learning English after using the Duolingo as a part of their out of class engagement. Novelty/Originality of this study: The students’ motivation to learn English outside of the classroom can be enhanced through the use of the Duolingo in mobile phones

Validation of the Malaysian Version of the Teacher Education Program Coherence Questionnaire

The main purpose of this study was to validate a Malay Language version of a 30-item teacher education program coherence questionnaire. Two different samples of preservice teachers completed the Malay translation of the questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis (N=220) showed four types of perceived program coherence which had good internal consistency ranging from 0.79 to 0.86: ‘Opportunity to enact practice’, ‘Opportunity to analyze practice’, ‘Opportunity to connect ideas across courses’ and ‘Coherence between courses and practical experience’. The confirmatory factor analysis (N= 234) provided support for a four-factor model. In addition, an analysis of criterion validity of the four types of perceived program coherence also indicated meaningful relationships to teaching efficacy. Our study supports the applicability of the Malaysian teacher education program coherence questionnaire for use among Malaysian preservice teachers. Both theoretical and practical implications are provided for teacher educators and researcher